UK condemns raids of key government buildings in Brazil by Bolsonaro supporters

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – Britain on Monday condemned the invasion of top government buildings in Brazil, including its Congress and Supreme Court, by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

"I condemn any attempt to undermine the peaceful transfer of power and the democratic will of the people of Brazil," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Twitter, referring to the incidents that occurred on Sunday.

"President @LulaOficial (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva) and his government has the United Kingdom's full support, and I look forward to building on our countries' close ties in the years ahead," he added.

Underlining the UK's support to Brazilian democracy, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had said earlier that "the violent attempts to undermine democracy in Brazil are unjustifiable."

On Sunday, Bolsonaro supporters managed to invade and ransack three branches of the government in the capital Brasilia -- the Planalto Palace, or President's office, Congress, and the Supreme Federal Court -- until they were eventually contained by security forces.

Earlier on Monday, Brazilian police said that at least 300 supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro were arrested.

Bolsonaro left the country two days prior to Lula's Jan. 1 inauguration for a third term as president and is currently residing in Orlando, Florida in the US.

He insisted in a tweet that "peaceful demonstrations, in the form of the law, are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017," are not within the rules.

After Lula's election victory last October, Bolsonaro supporters demonstrated, many blocking highways across the country and pushing for the military to intervene against the leftist leader.​​​​​​​